To Impeach or Not To Impeach

More than 70% of Democrats support the idea of impeaching the President, so why does Nancy Pelosi want to steer clear of the subject while Trump continues to raise the issue?

Pelosi said this week that she believes that impeachment would foster further divisiveness rather than unifying the country. Trump continues to raise the issue of his own potential impeachment to drum up his base in hopes of energizing these constituents come the midterm election in November. If Democrats continue to raise the issue, which based on Pelosi’s comments, seems less and less likely; Republicans and Trump, in particular, will get to play defense. If Trump continues to raise the issue, but Democrats stay silent, it is much less likely to sway voters. Here’s why.

Historically, we’ve seen the parties use these arguments with varying degrees of success. The Democrats capitalized on it in 1998 by claiming the Republicans were pushing for Clinton’s impeachment for purely political purposes. In 2006 the Republicans tried to place the impeachment blame on Democrats, and in 2014, the Democrats took another stab at it. In both of these instances, the talking point did not benefit the party in power. It would seem there has to be some basis in reality that the other side is actually trying to undertake impeachment for this to resonate with voters. Basis in reality in politics? Imagine that.